Ghetto Survival Guide

blending in

It’s very easy to get some credit in this country. If you have a job and a decent or empty credit history you can get some credit. Which is great. Its important to be able to have some money that simply isn’t yours that you can use in emergencies. Wealthy people have awesome credit cards and awesome credit rates. Credit companies basically pay them to use their credit cards. The reason is the desire for their business vs. the competition. They have to offer great deals and offer high credit lines and incredibly low interest rates. They will profit off the wealthy person, albeit not a ton, but they’ll make some money in the end.

Most Americans get terrible rates on credit cards. Because most Americans owe on credit cards. They cant pay them off, and when they do they typically owe money again almost immediately after. Credit companies make a ton of money off the average Joe. They don’t offer great deals they offer decent deals and at best a crappy interest.

You get the absolute worst deals. You get absolutely no incentives and very high interest rates. This should deter low income people from ever using credit. The problem being is that most low income people don’t make enough money to survive. We rely on unreliable income and even get that in small amounts. If we want to buy our kids birthday presents or take them to Chuck E Cheese or whatever we typically have to put that on credit. Really anything not food and rent goes to credit. And we can never pay it off because we’re never making more money. Either the same money or less. Credit card companies LOVE this. They make so much money in the end. We pay more interest by a huge margin than money borrowed by the ends of our lives. Its a scam. And it helps keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

Again this goes to the entire mantra of staying alive in the ghetto. You, being an American, think, “Something should be done about that.” Yea absolutely. It’s hurting a ton of people and contributes to a below par lifestyle for a ton of people. But there are no champions of the poor. Poor people don’t vote. Even if they did no presidential nominee would ever combat real issues in this country. They make up issues like gay marriage that have no real intrinsic bearing on anything and use vague words like “Hope” to not tackle this stuff.

The only way to survive the ghetto is the same way you survive the desert. You accept that you are not in control of the environment and have absolutely no bearing in “the way things should be.” You just have to stick to your goals of staying fed and hydrated and getting the hell out of there. Learn humility, learn how things work, and make critical decisions. Don’t waste a minute or a dollar trying to change things. Don’t forget why you live in the ghetto in the first place. You have no value therefor your voice and opinion has no value. Accept it, own it, move on.

If you’re just visiting the ghetto then you might not experience this. But if you live there you will. Living in a shitty high crime poverty stricken community is stressful. It takes it’s toll. It turns you into something else. It has a lot of effects on you as a whole. The highest would be fear, second would maybe be hunger. Or maybe the other way around. I don’t really know. It depends on you and the situation.

In order to not feel so exhausted sometimes you need to find somewhere else to spend your time. Typically you can’t afford to go to Italy and summer there so you have to stay in the ghetto and get your vacation. The easiest way is segregation. No not separating races. But separating yourself from the world around you. Staying indoors. Staying at a friends house. Getting lost in video games or a book. Staying at your girlfriends place. Pack your shit up and go over there.

My way was video games. Eventually they too become exhausting because you’re so hungry and broke and you spend a lot of time sleeping but at least I didn’t care about the world outside. Girls will do it too. Stay at their houses. Girl’s often travel to stay with boyfriends but if they live in a nice area and you live in the hood maybe you should go over there. Bring your dog, spend the night. Get away from it.

Sometimes the weight of the world will be too much for you to bare. Probably actually a lot in life. And you want to do crazy things to get it off. Like kill or be killed. Rob and steal and lash out at the world around you. Make it big or die. I think it was 50 Cent who had the song about getting rich or die trying. You better believe that stuck in the hood. Life is barely worth living. Lots of days it simply isn’t. You’re going to feel like you have nothing to lose a lot. That you can only go up. That any action no matter how absurd or violent or risky only stands to benefit you. Let those feelings subside. Make bigger goals. It’s better to be broke and free than rich and in prison.

9. Not looking like you could be concealing a firearm. If you’re out in shorts and no shirt it’s very clear you’re unarmed.

10. Hands in your pockets. Hands in your hoody is another story. You could be holding a firearm. You should be holding a firearm.

11. Putting your head down. Your head should be up. You’re not worried about anything. You’re armed or they perceive you as armed. Just the possibility will make you not worth trouble in most cases.

12. Avoiding eye contact. Make eye contact, say a greeting. They will very rarely say a greeting back. If they get aggressive don’t break eye contact, just don’t respond. Look right through them. When they see they don’t threaten you they’ll assume you’re armed and not worried about their aggression. But if you say something back instigating further aggression that won’t matter to them.

13. You need to care about your physical appearance. Hood rats don’t have the “fair fight” emotions that normal people have. An elderly woman is fair game for victimization to them. If you don’t work out or stay in shape you’re prey and not predator. Look at a lion and look at a rabbit. You don’t have to touch them or see them in action or anything beyond just an image of them to instantly gauge threat. If you’re muscular you gauge threat. Always gauge threat but don’t threaten. Size matters. Size matters so incredibly much.

14. Don’t have flashy things. Don’t leave your blinds open. Don’t have a nice car. Don’t keep your car and property super clean. Don’t have things other people will want so badly they’ll take a risk and steal said things.

15. Opening your door to strangers. Never ever do that. If you don’t know them you don’t open the door.

16. Being friends with cops. Sure cops are a necessity to society. But they’re also the most dangerous and aggressive people in the hood. Be courteous, be respectful, be very submissive and show a lot of humility. They have rules. And they love when they get to push them to the limit. Don’t give them the opportunity. But don’t be their friends.

17. Best way to avoid trouble from police is have a job. Wear your work clothes. They have so much more respect for someone in the hood if they have a job.

So blend in but don’t blend in. You might want to look like you don’t belong there. You don’t want to be one of them but don’t look like you don’t belong. Blend in to the background.